Abstract
Introduction: Breast milk jaundice is considered as the most common cause for neonatal jaundice; however, its epidemiological aspects in some population remain unclear.
Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of breast milk jaundice and its main determinant among a group of neonates in western Iran.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 413 neonates hospitalized due to prolonged jaundice in Besat hospital in Hamadan, Iran. The study information was collected by reviewing the hospital’s recorded files.
Results: In total, 413 neonates hospitalized were assessed in this study. The main reason for appearing jaundice included; 72.4% of cases of jaundice were due to breast milk, urinary tract infection in 4.2% of cases, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD) in 5.8% of cases, hypothyroidism in 1.2% of cases. Out of 299 neonates suffering from breast milk jaundice, 126 (42.1%) were male, and 173 (57.9%) were female with the overall average age of 16.68 ± 2.14 days. Jaundice appeared at less than two days of age in 29.4% of neonates, between 15 to 20 days of age in 64.9%, and more than 20 days of age in 5.7% of cases.
Conclusion: Breast milk jaundice is considered as the most common reason for neonatal jaundice in our population, which affects more than two-thirds of our neonates. Additionally, the peak age of this phenomenon is between 15 and 20 days. The appearing breast milk jaundice is independent of gender, age, and birth weight or baseline total serum bilirubin level.